Storage rack



STORAGE RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 22, 1941 INVENTOR.

Patented June 29, 1943 a UNlTED STAT-ES PATENT oFFIcF.

, s'ronAGERAGk' William J. Fishel, Winston-Salem, N. 0. Application August 22, 1941,; Serial; no. 407,995;

1Claim. (01.211 69) Thisicinvent-ioni IEIQ tSSKtO a storage rack designed primarily for holding. axles and. other similanI-parts. of. motortvehicles. where they can be conveniently reached, it bein ipossible, by the: use ofi thisyrack; to. store a large number of parts in a: comparatively small": space and .to group them so that apart: of any particular type. canreadily be located.

ficfurther'fl object. is" to provide a rack of this character which is cheap to manufacture, and is free of parts likely to become easily broken or otherwise injured.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a vertical transverse section through the rack, some parts in position therein being indicated by broken lines, the middle portion of the rack being broken away.

Figure 2 is a section on line 22, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section through one type of bushing which can be used in connection with the rack.

Figure 4 is an enlarged section through a portion of the rack showing modified means for centerin articles in the rack.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of one of the lower centering devices, as shown in Figure 4, said figure being on the line 5-5, Figure 4.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, I designates the fiat top of the rack which can be of anysize desired and formed of heavy sheet metal, this top merging into a downwardly and forwardly inclined front portion 2 which, in turn, merges into a substantially vertical front portion 3. The top I merges at the back into a back wall 4 and it is to be understood that the top, front and back can be made of one, unbroken sheet of metal. The side walls 5 of the rack are likewise formed of sheet metal and can be provided with top, front and back flanges 6 lapped by the top I and the front and back walls of the rack and joined thereto by welding. The front, back and side walls have their lower portions bent upwardly and inwardly to provide inclined bottom flanges I and surrounded by these intumed flanges is a. bottom plate- 8 the edge portions. of which. are joined to the flanges by welding.

series of apertures. 9 is provided. in the top I, these apertures being arranged in rows or in any other. manner desired and all' 'ofs'the apertures are large. enough toreceive the parts to be stored Illifl'lEESllfilQtillllG illustrated the apertures arefinilinewithz additiona'lz apertures I ll formed in amplatestli which is extended horizontally. within the rackand: joined: at its :edges to thexwalls of the rack, this plate preferably being provided with a depending flange I3 welded to the walls.

In addition to the plate II, forming a partition, the bottom plate 8 can be provided with sockets I4 in vertical alinement with the openings 9 and I0. As an additional means for strengthening the structure and for guiding the parts, tubes l5 may be seated within the openings and joined to the adjacent parts by welding, the lower ends of the tubes being joined to the bottom plate 8 and extended around the sockets I4.

One or more of the openings 9 can be provided with bushings I6 which, in the structure shown, have downwardly converging fingers I6. These bushings are adapted to be fitted snugly within certain of the openings and when so located will serve to center in those openings stored parts the diameters of which are materially less than the diameters of the openings 9.

The rack herein described can be of any dmired size and capacity. The inturned flanges I provide rounded contact portions I1 for engaging the surface of the floor on which the rack is mounted so that the rack can be pushed from place to place without difiiculty. The bottoms of the sockets of course terminate above the level of the rounded portions IT, as shown.

After the rack has been set at the point of use, the part to be stored are inserted downwardly into the openings 9 and if these openings are too large to hold the parts properly centered, the

bushings IB can be placed in the openings, the

fingers of these bushings being bent to adapt them to the parts to be held. No matter what might be the diameter of the inserted part P, its lower end will be properly centered by the sockets I4 thereunder.

If tubes I5 are used they serve more readily to guide the inserted part to the sockets as well as to assist in holding the parts P in upstanding positions. However it might be desirable under some circumstances to eliminate the tubes I5 and to rely solel upon theapertured partition Iland the top I to hold the parts in upstanding positions. Under other conditions both the tubes l5 and the partition H could be eliminated and the inserted parts could be held in upstanding positions by the walls of the openings 9 or the bushings therein and by the walls of the sockets in which the lower ends of the parts are seated.

It has been found in practice that by using a rack such as herein described, a large and varied assortment of axles and other large vehicle parts can be stored in a small space where any one of the parts can easily be reached and removed.

As the entire structure is of box-like formation and is formed of heavy sheet metal, it is very the rounded bearing portions I1! which'thus enables the loaded structure to be readily. pushed from place to place.

Under some conditions thebushings indicated at l6 could not be used advantageously. Therefore it might be desirable to employ structures such as shown in Figures 4 and 5, this being true particularly where very heavy articles are to be stored on end in the rack. In the form illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, one of the openings I! in the top l8 of the rack i shown provided with nested rings I 9 and 20, ring [9 being supported in the opening IT by an annular flange 2| while ring 20 is supported in ring H) by an annular flange 22. Obviously by increasing or reducing the number of nested rings, the opening I! can be adapted for use in properly holding 5 articles of different diameters. One of these articles has been indicated at P in Figure 4. Furthermore, instead of forming depressions in the bottom of the rack as indicated at I 4, each depression can be formed of a frusto-conical cup- 10 like member- 23 seated in a bottom opening 24.

These can be. made of suflicient strength to properly support the lower end of the article inserted into the rack.

' Obviously various other means may be used 15 for the same purposes as those disclosed.

It is to be understood of coursethat the socket members 23 can be made either integral with the bottom of the rack or can be separate therefrom so as to be renewable.

What is claimed is:

A storage rack including a box-like structure having openings in' the top thereof for the reception of upstanding parts to be stored, nested rings removably mounted in one of the openings for 2-3 centering a part in the opening, and means below the openings for engaging, supporting and centering the lower end of the icentered part in said opening.

WILLIAM J. FIsI-mn 

